Subject: [TOURNAMENT] Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 14:14:47 -0700 From: Morgan Whitmont To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Tournament Report for PTQ - CA on Oct 3rd, 1998 by Morgan Whitmont (1st place, playing Mawcor Blue) Format: Rath Cycle Constructed 6 rounds of Swiss; cut to final 8 for single-elim matches No. of People: around 60 I didn't expect to do well. So I didn't take notes. I don't remember names very well in general and I got up at 8:15 in the morning and I played games of Magic until 11:30 PM and I don't remember anyone's names. Sorry. BTW, I am a giant scrub. I played Magic when Arabians came out, I stopped around Ice Age, I won exactly one tournament in that time. I started playing again around eight months ago; I have played in a total of two Constructed tournaments since then. So, um, maybe Jamie Wakefield will be mad that I won. :) My preparation: I read the Dojo a lot. I really thought that Rath Cycle would be cool because (unlike T2) there should be room for Rogue decks. See, in T2, the really good cards are very well known; a combination of really good cards is hard to beat if you are running inefficient, strange cards. But, in a more limited set of cards, most decks have more weaknesses, so something less perfect can do quite well. Anyway... I was trying to get a Mono-blue Sapphire deck to work. But, well, it lost a lot. Then I tried to get a red-green landkill to work. (sigh) Then I read Nathan Heiss's report on playing a Mono-Blue Curiosity deck. It was similar to what I had been trying, but with some great additions. I played it for a few weeks. It ruled. So that's what I played on Saturday. Nathan, you're the man. I bow before you, etc. So, the deck: 4 Tradewind Riders (no-brainer) 4 Mawcor (WTF!?! mmmm... scrubby) 3 Thalakos Drifter (see above. Actually, they're great, too) 3 Keeper of the Mind (think: Ophidian) 4 Manakin (sided out a lot, generally strong) 3 Mox Diamond (Why not 4? Who knows?) 2 Legacy's Allure (very strong in a creature world) 2 Capsize (some good) 4 Counterspell (I dropped a Mind Over Matter out of the deck to find room for 4 of the Best Card Ever) 4 Forbid 4 Curiosity (some good, part II) 2 Stalking Stones 2 Wasteland (Nathan ran Maze of Shadows but didn't like it. Wastelands were good to me.) 20 Island (61 cards, but I would remove a Mawcor from the main deck if I were to do it all over again. I wanted more land, but, um, whatever.) Sideboard: (dubious) 3 Mana Leak (most used sb card, but could survive on 2) 1 Drifter (no WW today; never used) 1 Legacy's Allure (much, much use) 2 Reins of Power (no-one cast Death successfully against me, I never sided this in) 2 Interdict (see semi-finals - WON IT ALL WITH INTERDICT!) 4 Hammerhead Shark (awesome power at a scrubby price) 1 Capsize (hm.) 1 Rootwater Hunter (hm. never used, um except for a Finals Error) Ok, the games. Again, my no names policy was just a terrible accident. Sorry, everyone. Match 1: somebody w/ CounterChicken Game 1: I paris off no land, draw 2 land, don't draw more land. He casts Capsize w/ Buyback. I scoop. Game 2: I draw 3 land. He casts Capsize w/ buyback. I am sad. Matchs 0-1; games 0-2 Match 2: TJ, a younger player, w/ Burning Bridge. Game 1: 4th turn Mawcor, 5th turn Mawcor, 6th turn Mawcor, Tradewind. Horrible Beatings Ensue (whew!) People at neighboring tables laugh at my deck. Game 2: Something good happens. I trade-lock him on turn 4. I Curiosity something and end up with 4 active Tradewinds and oodles of stuff. The match takes under 10 minutes. People snicker at my cards. Matchs 1-1; games 2-2 Match 3: somebody w/ Sligh Game 1: I win. I have no idea what happened. Game 2: Ok, you may have already noticed that I was a cocky twit who lacked the brains to sb Chill. Bad Morgan. Anyway, he expects Chill, and uses the generic Ancient Tomb tech. This gives him a second turn Spellshock, which made the game very weird. The key bit in the game was when he has a Torture Chamber out and a Mogg Fanatic. Like a dimwit, I cast Hammerhead Shark (strong blocker vs. Sligh, btw). This gives him a great Torture Chamber target. Luckily for me, he casts Maniacal Rage on the Fanatic and attacks. I block w/ Hammerhead, let it die, and Capsize (no bb) the Fanatic. Then I Forbid (bb) the Fanatic. A few turns pass (I counter an Apocalypse and something else); Torture Chamber kills him. Matchs 2-1; games 4-2 Match 4: My teammate, Jim Powers, running Sligh Game 1: Everything I play ignites. Game 2: I shouldn't have won. But I Legacy'd a Rathi, and he drew land. Game 3: See game 2. Matchs 3-1; games 6-3 Match 5: (Hey! I'm actually doing well. Hmm, more caffeine. Ooh, now I want a smoke. Mmm, good.) Somebody with Trade-Awake I am Very Tired. Oh, yeah, in 2 games I get first turn Keeper of the Mind, which equals huge card advantage, which wins. I overhear a derogatory comment about Mawcors. Legacy took Wall of Blossoms, Wall blocked Scraggie. Hammerheads are good. Matchs 4-1; games 8-4 (probably) Because there were 6 rounds of Swiss, people start to talk about drawing in. With 12 pts, I can draw in, unless I am paired with the one guy with 11 pts. I am. (Sigh) Match 6: Ed (?), playing something weird Game 1: I trade-lock him on two land (turn 4?). I have no idea what his deck is. He played a forest and a swamp, but the cards he discarded were not standard Death cards. Game 2: I sideboard in Interdict. Why? I dunno, 'cause, um, maybe something would bug me. Anyway, I get a bad land draw and keep it. He ends up doing something really weird. He gets an infinite number of Time Warps using Recurring Nightmare. Actually, I Legacy his Anarchist, so he Recurrs a Scrivener, takes Reclaim, Reclaims Warp, Scroll Racks for the Warp, and, well, wins. Game 3: I loved this game. 1st turn Keeper of the Mind. 2nd turn Curiosity on the Keeper, beat, Leak something. I then proceed to Forbid things. That Keeper does 14 points of damage; his thuggish buddy (Manakin) does the remaining 6. Hahahaha! At the end of the match, my opponent picks up the Curious Keeper and shows it to the rest of the top table. There is a round of general head-shaking. Matchs 5-1; games 10-5 (probably) Final 8: 7 Bluish decks, one Death. My foe from round one made the cut, ended up playing in a hideous Phoenix on Phoenix deathmatch in the semi-finals. Match 7: Someone with Death There were 5 or so people there all playing the identical Death deck. My friend Colin had played one of them; he said the deck was nearly identical to his. Whatever. Sometimes, luck is key. Game 1: I trade-lock him on two land. (turn 5) Game 2: I trade-lock him on two land. The judge won't let him concede. That kinda sucked. But I'll take the win. (Before the match began, he asked the judge who he would play after beating me. Heh.) Matchs 6-1; games 12-5 (probably) Match 8: Jeff (??) with TradeAwake Game 1: I roll, he concedes to a 4th-turn tradelock. Game 2: I see the most horrible card in the world. Dominating Licid. I try some stuff, and lose. My opponent begins taking WAAY TOO LONG to do anything. Game 3: My opponent is #*% taking 5-10 minutes per turn. Whatever. Key Play: He has the the Licid of Doom in play (sitting on my Keeper). Also in play is my Manaking. I have a Drifter, a Mawcor and 2 Tradewinds in my hand. I have 5 or 6 land. I need to get an active tradewind. I know that he has a Forbid in hand (bb). I Wasteland a Skyshroud Forest, so he won't be able to Forbid. I play a Drifter. He takes the Drifter, giving me back the Keeper. I play a land, and a Tradewind. I use the Keeper. I draw: Interdict!!! He tries to take the Tradewind during his turn, I Interdict. I get into a winning position, and he stalls. He literally took 15 minutes to play the same card he had played the turn before. There was a judge sitting there, the judge didn't criticize him. Therefore, the judge indicated that this was acceptable behavior. So, I can't be mad at my opponent. He was attempting to win, using every acceptable tool. Thankfully, we got 3 extra turns, and a last-minute attack w/ Mawcor + Drifter (shadow!). Matchs 7-1; games 14-6 (probably) Finals: Somebody Pleasant with CounterPhoenix This guy was cool. I wish I remembered his name. Game 1: No land for Morgan. :( Game 2: Side in Sharks!! Turn 1: island, go, island. Turn 2: island, shark, go, mountain. Shark maulings ensue. I countered at least one Intuition - he had land problems. These two games took around 2 minutes each. Game 3: For the prize! Him: Island, go. Me: Island, Mox Diamond, Hammerhead, go. Him: Mountain, go. Me: Curiosity! Curiosity! Mr B., meet Mr. Tings! Insanity! I am reminded of Deep Thoughts: the most fearsome animal in existence isn't a bear, or a tiger, or a snake. It's a shark on top of an elephant, just trampling and eating everything in sight. (ahem) Ok, yeah, that was good for 2 turns. He Intuitioned during my turn. I did Forbid w/ bb. Then he double-shocked the Hammerhead of Infinite Goodness. I laid down a Drifter, countered some Phoenix a few times and won a trip to Rome with Drifter Beatdown. Yay. Oh, yeah, the Finals error. I got home, took the the deck apart, and realized I had accidentally sided in a Rootwater hunter instead of a Mana Leak. Didn't draw it, tho. In the semi-finals, I played a Drifter instead of a Tradewind in game one, cause I was soo tired. Fortunately, neither error mattered. Nathan Heiss gets the mad props. Thanks for posting your experiences. Thanks also to M. Turian, for listing Nathan's earlier deck (with a sideboard!); and to Jean-Louis D'Hondt, for demonstrating that Curiosity kicks a** in Lisbon. My friends Jim and Colin were a giant help. Without their support (see: caffeine, banter), I wouldn't have won. Um, if you're gonna run this deck - USE CHILL ON SIDEBOARD! Remember, it is a Blue Beatdown Fatty Deck. It is soo much fun to play. And, your rounds finish in around 8 minutes. :)